|
|
|
|
|
Jurg von Känel, a researcher at IBM's J. Watson Research Centre, and his colleagues are working on analytical software that would simplify consumer finance and make it more secure as well. An oxymoron? Känel doesn't think so. By Kushan Mitra Aren't you irritated about the fact that every time you walk into an ATM you have to remember a PIN number, or for that matter every time you go to a website to check your e-mail, or to do virtually anything for that matter? Enter some password or PIN number, making your brain a huge cauldron of useless strings of numbers. Well, Jurg von Känel, researcher at IBM's J. Watson Lab in New Jersey feels your irritation. Känel, who works on analytics, which in essence means he is a number-cruncher extraordinaire, is working on tools to make life easier not just for you as the user, but also for banks and other financial institutions. "By using numbers in innovative ways we can perform calculations that allow voice analytics," says Känel. So instead of entering a number, you can just talk into an ATM, and voila, instant recognition. But how do you get around mimics? "Well, believe it or not every voice is unique and can be separated, and we know how to do that already. The problem here is of background noise and how to deal with that," says Känel. However, the time when you don't need to remember strange strings of numbers to get some money out may be round the corner. But the work Känel does might be helping you in other ways as well. Don't you always find credit card interest rates usurious? And aren't you worried about your debit or credit card falling into the wrong hands, or even identity theft for that matter? Well, number crunching by Känel's team has meant that banks can employ better software to guard against fraud. "Banks have records of every customer and what pattern they use. In case customers start spending in a pattern that is different from the way that they usually spend, the software will recognise this and raise red flags. So in case your credit card is stolen, your bank might have disabled it and also be the first to inform you." So how much does Känel enjoy math, given that his life revolves around numbers? "Without numbers I would be quite lost," he says. Well, with him around, we might not need to remember numbers much longer. You need to, however, remember to spend wisely.
|
|
Issue Contents Write to us Subscription Syndication INDIA TODAY |
INDIA TODAY PLUS © Living Media India Ltd |
 |
 |
